D.J. Vokolek

Biography

D.J. Vokolek was named a defensive assistant coach at Northwestern by Head Coach David Braun on Aug. 11, 2023, and later moved into an assistant defensive line coach role, primarily working with defense ends, ahead of the 2025 campaign. He is entering his fourth season on staff at Northwestern in 2026. Vokolek helped produce strong 2025 campaigns from NU defensive end mainstays Aidan Hubbard and Michael Kilbane. Hubbard finished his graduate season as the No. 5 all-time sack leader at Northwestern with 20.5 career sacks after registering 28 total tackles, 14 solo tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss and a career-high 7.5 sacks. He logged at least 0.5 sacks in seven of 11 regular-season appearances. Kilbane earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors after posting 43 stops, 17 solo tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, all of which were career highs, in a breakout junior season on the defensive line. In 2025, the NU defense allowed 19.8 points per game as a team, ranking sixth in the Big Ten and 23rd in FBS. It marked the best scoring defense by a Northwestern team since 2020, and the best in a full season since 2015. Northwestern’s defense ranked fourth in the Big Ten, producing 20 total takeaways during the season (11 fumble recoveries, 9 interceptions), while the team’s 11 fumble recoveries also led the Big Ten and ranked 11th in the nation. He helped the Wildcats to an 8-5 record, a 5-4 mark in conference games which tied for second in the Big Ten West and a Las Vegas Bow